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Don Lemon Tonight

Fugitive Charles Mozdir gunned down this afternoon in New York City

Aired July 28, 2014 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- we never really even imagined that we could transform these lion killers to the point where they would risk their own lives to stop other people from killing lions. When I first moved here, I never heard lions roaring. Now I hear lions roaring all the time.

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DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The next hour of CNN TONIGHT starts right now.

This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

Hunted down, a fugitive named Charles Mozdir gunned down this afternoon in New York City. He was wanted in California on child molestation charges but he posted bail, disappeared and became a fugitive featured on John Walsh's CNN show, "THE HUNT." Tips from viewers led authorities to track him down today in lower Manhattan where the search for him culminated in a wild shoot-out inside a smoke shop in a busy neighborhood. Police say Mozdir was killed and three officers were wounded as they attempted to take him into custody.

Well tonight, the story behind fugitive Charles Mozdir, his crime, his time on the run and his final hours. Later, John Walsh will join me live here in studio with his reaction. And I want to warn you that the following program includes content which some viewers may find disturbing. So viewer discretion is advised.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason that I've kept my identity concealed is because I would like my son to move on and not be identified or stigmatized with this event for the rest of his life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He went by Charlie but his legal name is Charles Richard Mozdir III. We were friends since middle school. He never really fit in with one group. He was like the lone Wolf and he took some pride in that, even as an adult.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Charlie and I met at school. And we got along really well. He is very charismatic. And we just, we bonded over certain things. I'm an artist and he is also very artistic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the ladies in the family he would grab them, take them by the handled and kiss their hand and greet them and be very, very charming. Almost like overboard. Almost like in a manipulative way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We became friends enough to become roommates in college. People that didn't get Charlie. They didn't tend to be friends with him usually. But nobody really knew him that well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our friend, his roommate, had told me on numerous occasions how filthy his room was. It was just putrid. It just smelled like rotten food and dirty laundry. And it was very, very dark. The blinds were always drawn. His door was always shut. He didn't want people in his private space. There was a safe haven there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all felt that he had a secret life. I remember him telling me some stories that seemed very outlandish.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His conquests in Paris, how he made love there at the Eiffel tower. That he was kicked out of the country. He was asked to leave or told to leave before there was charges pressed upon him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just kind of blew it off and look at it like, that's just Charlie.

When John and I got married, Charlie was very helpful in the sense that he wanted to be the photographer. He wanted to offer any sort of help he could and he did. He was very helpful in putting it all together.

JOHN WALSH, CNN HOST, THE HUNT: Charles Mozdir did a great job and spent his whole life doing this great job. Do you know what his great job was? Hiding from everybody what he really was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Charlie knew everything about us. He knew our deepest secrets. He was like a brother. Even when my son was born, he was there, I think in the delivery room. Liam and Charlie were close in the sense like of an uncle and a nephew.

WALSH: This case is so disturbing because this type of predator is so cunning and uses his charm to make his victim accessible through the victim's own parents. A little bit different than the internet pedophile. This guy ingratiates himself with the family. He is the go-to guy. He is the guy that everybody trusts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Liam was sick. He came home with 105 fever from school. My daughter was a newborn. She was only a few weeks old. And I was trying to care for her with little sleep and also care for Liam being very ill. I had spoken with my husband to see if he could come home from work. He is gone all the time in the late spring and summer due to his line of work. And me being in the delicate state that I was, I felt that I really needed someone there that night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually kind of convinced my wife to call Charlie, knowing that he is a night owl that would sleeps in the middle of the day and he is up at night on his computer and he would be more than willing to do. That he is like family to us. And that he would do anything for Liam.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I felt a little bit strange about it actually, as good a friends as I was with Charlie, I felt like I was in such a vulnerable place that I just wasn't, I wasn't sure about the whole idea. But I remember him being very resistant at first. Well, you know, is there somebody else? Are you sure?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came over and witnessed how sick Liam was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hadn't had very much sleep since the baby had been born. But I was trying to stay awake and keep an eye on Liam just to make sure that he was safe. And he wasn't getting too hot.

So Charlie offered to, you know, put a wash cloth on his forehead and sit next to the bed and just monitor his temperature every now and then. And I told him, we'll take shifts. You can keep an eye on him for a little while and then I'll watch over him. He said no, no, you haven't had any rest since the baby has been born. Why don't you go ahead and get rest and I'll look over him.

In the morning when I woke up, I felt that we had made it through the night successfully. The morning that Charlie left, I thanked him for being a great godfather and told him how much I appreciated his house and his dedication to our family. That was the last time I saw Charlie.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a secret taboo world. The second somebody finds out about it, their whole life turns upside down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son sat me down and he said mom, I have something to tell you. And I said what is it? And he said I don't know if I should because he promised me I wouldn't say anything. And at that moment, my heart just sunk. He proceed to tell me that Charlie had touched him inappropriately and how he did it. When he finished telling me, I was physically sick. And I called his father and said you need to come home right now. We need to talk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even though Melissa was in the same bed, not only in the same house or the same room but in the same king size bed. He pulled back the sheets and proceeded to play with our son's private parts. And he tried to explain to our son that it was normal what he was doing to him. That his parents were going to be upset with him if he told them. But it was normal for, you know, friends to do that. That it was normal for him to know about how to masturbate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We both listened to the story and we both wanted to make sure we weren't accusing one of our best friends of something. So -- horrible.

ANGEL CEDENO, CORONADO POLICE DEPARTMENT: He did the right thing by coming forward right away so he could get the ball rolling as far as our investigation and not lose the element of time which we always want on our side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie also asked him, do you know that dogs have big penises? And when I told that to the Coronado detectives, it raised an eyebrow with them.

CEDENO: We executed the search warrant.

BRIAN GRIMES, MARSHAL SERVICE: Coronado investigators found the evidence of child pornography and bestiality on his cell phone and his computers.

WALSH: What the police found would probably shock the average person, alleged contact with animals, bestiality is a taboo of centuries in society that's even accepted child molestation. No society accepts bestiality.

GRIMES: It is a secret taboo world that they have to keep from their family members, friends, co-workers, anybody else. And the second somebody finds out about it, their whole life turns upside down.

CEDENO: He appeared to be shocked. He denied that he had done anything wrong. He continually asked me why he was being arrested and what his charges were.

WALSH: You put your greatest treasure, your greatest possession of all time with all kinds of people. Anybody could be a pedophile. It could be your grandfather. It could be the child's psychologist, it could be the catholic priest, the rabbi, the minister. That pedophile, that child molester could be somebody that is right in your own house.

CEDENO: He continually brought up how he would never do something like this to a child. How he loved the victim so much. He would never do something like that to hurt or jeopardize his relationship with the family.

WALSH: They love children in the worst way. They love children as an object of desire, an object to use as their sex slave, their toy or whatever, and throw them away.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His family reached out to me. They showed up at my house. They tried to get me to come with them to get Charlie out of jail and to drop the charges, telling me that I was a horrible friend and a horrible person for doing what I was doing. After much yelling and shouting they finally left.

We were at the courthouse. And at that moment the district attorney had called John and was on the phone with him. And I just saw, it was like somebody rimmed John's heart out. And he got off the phone and he just collapsed. He said what's going on? What happened? And he said he did it before. He's not the first victim.

CEDENO: After receiving the initial crime report, I conducted a search of local data bases here for Charles and located a prior allegation where he was also suspected of molesting a child from several years back. DIANA DRUMMEY, CORONADO POLICE DEPARTMENT: It was a similar case.

Charles babysitting and another young boy who brought the incident to his mother's attention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: However, after an investigation, there was not enough physical evidence to arrest him or press charges.

WALSH: He's like the junkie that can't resist the heroin. It is a crime of opportunity. It is an arrogance, a compulsion in a cunning that we can't understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And at that moment, you feel a sense of torture and painful because you know you were so close to this person but you didn't see the signs.

I think something broke in John at that moment. And he hasn't trusted people in the same way since. Well, the day of Charlie's arraignment, we were all on pins and needles.

GRIMES: Called the sister and said we'll see you in court on Friday for my court appearance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His family had bailed him out and put a pretty big bail bond so we were all hopeful that he would be there and they could serve him the restraining order. Well, he didn't show up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's when the warrant was issued and they began to look for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He took all his money, popped in the car and took off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said he would take John out, myself, before he would ever go to prison.

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CEDENO: Mozdir was not at the residence. I spoke to Charles' roommates and he told me that Charles had been there a week before. That he believed it was the day he bailed out and he was very nervous, very anxious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said yes, Charlie grabbed his stuff in a hurry. He said that his friend John is lying and falsely accusing him and that he would kill, or that he would take John out, myself, he would take John out before he would ever go to prison.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roommate knew for a fact that Charlie had two guns. One registered, one unregistered. And wanted the detectives to know that. That this threat could be valid. That this should be taken seriously. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we found out that he was gone, that he had

skipped out, it made us feel very vulnerable. We felt very worried especially him knowing where we lived.

DRUMMEY: The vehicle was found and I literally did a jig. And I thought, this is amazing.

CEDENO: Several days after Charles went missing, Mozdir's vehicle was located in Georgia. Appeared to be abandoned. The license plate had been ripped off. There was an extra gas tank in the vehicle leading us to believe that he was in a hurry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're thing he drove all the way out there over to McIntosh, Georgia, for a period of two or three days.

CEDENO: It appeared someone had left the vehicle in a state where they didn't want it to be found.

GRIMES: After ditching his car, he had a few options. The dog bloodhound that picked up his scent leading from the highway and picked it up one more time to his car. The final scent was to U.S. highway 17.

And from there we're thinking somebody probably picked him up. Whether a friend, a family member or an unknown stranger. One of his last phone call with the friend was I need to take off. I'm probably going to Mexico but I might also go to Japan.

And after we found his car in Georgia, there has been no new leads. It's been almost cold for two years now.

At this point, he's scared, you know, running for his life. And that's a worry for anybody in law enforcement. If you have contact with this guy, because we don't know what he's going to do. If he is an EMT, he is trained in search and rescue. So I wouldn't be surprised if we got a tip and hey, this guy has been camping in the woods for a long time. Living off the land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is in my opinion, he is a predator. We want Charles Richard Mozdir iii behind bars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt it was very important to share our story in hopes that Charlie would be brought to justice. This is not an easy choice to make. But it could possibly help somebody else be protected in the future.

WALSH: I figured out one thing. One thing in all these years sigs my son was murdered. They're out there, they're evil. Until we figure out how to keep them away from children, it is up to you to protect your child and be street smart and follow your gut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Joined now by John Walsh, host of CNN "THE HUNT."

John, it's fascinating. The amazing the you said Charles monster himself, that he., you know, he would kill, right? You though that he would -- they would have a violent end. Did you predict this with the police?

WALSH: No. I honestly didn't think he would shoot it out with the cops, although he had two guns. But the threats that he made with his old roommate that he would circle back and kill the father. That he was furious with the family for turning them in. And that they had brought the case to the police. And while he was on the run, two years now, that he was going to circle back and kill the father.

So that was always in people's mind. But usually when pedophiles get cornered, they're cowards. You know what I mean. You know, you have talked about it yourself. They're bullies, they are cowards, they are manipulators, there is many times, sociopathic, have no remorse, whatsoever.

But when they get cornered like a rat, sometimes they're very violent. And I think the marshals knew he knew they were on the hunt. And that they were closing in on him. And I think he probably thought he would not do very well in prison. You know, the show is very popular in prison. And those are the guys the prisoners hate the most. The pedophiles.

LEMON: We can relate to that. This is a tough question. Is it better for the family that he be brought to jail or that he was killed?

WALSH: Having sat through many, many trials, having testified state to state and on a federal level about how the criminal justice system is the criminal injustice system, and how very rough it is for child victims, I think this was the place for them tonight go through, sometime years of appeals. Sometime those children are brutalized on the witness stand. Sometime they're pre interviewed 10 or 12 time before the trial. I think this has given this family number one, to take that breath and say, he's not out there anymore. He is not going to come back and hurt our son or hurt us. And we don't have to go through this long trial.

LEMON: Have you heard from them?

WALSH: No, I haven't. We reached out today to make sure they knew what went down. And I believe being a victim myself, you give people a little bit of a chance to digest everything that has gone on.

LEMON: As we look at the scene, we want to sit in the press conference today, police commissioner Bratton and the mayor. They held up one of the officers, bullet-proof vest, right? And these officers going through so much. We scrutinize officers a lot. We have been talking about that. But they really do put their live on the line when it comes and these officers did. Are you going to speak with them?

WALSH: I am. Every year except last year I did a show from the police memorial. I was there when they broke ground. When President Bush's father broke ground. I was there when President Clinton cut the ribbon. There are over 14,000 names on the law enforcement in memorial in

Washington D.C. of men and women who have given their lives in the line of duty. And you should see those kids there every year, you know, penciling in there mom's name or their father's name who died in the line, 70 plus of them last year. I don't know how many people have their loved ones to go work every day and their love ones wonder, are you going to come back from the job today?

So those are three very brave, very courageous fugitive hunters. And thank God he was not lucky enough to kill one of them.

LEMON: This happened in Coronado, California, correct?

WALSH: Coronado.

LEMON: Three thousand miles away, he was captured. This guy can be anywhere. He probably came here because the city is so dense that he thought he could just blend in.

WALSH: So many of the fugitives I have caught over the years go to big metropolitan areas. They don't have the resources to go as far as anybody thinks and they can hide amongst us. They can take jobs off the books. And that's what he did. He came here to hide amongst millions of people.

LEMON: All right, John, stay with us. When we come right back, we are going to talk about this the rest of the hour. Charles Mozdir was tracked down today in New York City's west village. But up next,. what happened when he was approached by law enforcement? We'll take you through it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to CNN TONIGHT.

Fugitive Charles Mozdir evaded the law for the last two years. He made it cross country from San Diego all the way to New York city where his time on the run ended today.

Deborah Feyerick has on the scene with more.

Deb, how did this all go down?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is so interesting. You can see the smoke shop behind me. That illuminated sign right there. Quiet now, but earlier today, some frantic moments as these U.S. marshals attempted to execute this arrest warrant and everything went south.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): The search for suspected child molester and fugitive, Charles Mozdir ends here. The shoot-out at this smoke shop in Manhattan's busy west village.

BILL BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: Mozdir fired upon the officers at very close range and the officers returned fire.

FEYERICK: Members of the U.S. marshal's New York/New Jersey regional task force tracked him to New York following a tip that came from CNN's "THE HUNT" with John Walsh.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My son sat me down and said, mom, I have something to tell you. And he proceed to tell me that Charlie had touched him inappropriately.

FEYERICK: Mozdir had recently been profiled on the show.

One of the officers went inside and identified Modzir. He was alone, police say inside that some shop and you can see that's the white doorway just past the stop sign. When members of the task force entered, that's when the shooting began.

BRATTON: During the exchange gunfire, the detective and two marshals were wounded. Charles Mozdir was shot dead.

FEYERICK: Police say Modzir had grown a beard and had no intention of being taken quietly.

BRATTON: A .32 caliber handgun was recovered at the scene, 20 rounds of additional (INAUDIBLE) and ammunition were found in Modzir's pockets.

FEYERICK: Alexis Green lives down the block from the smoke shot and took these photos immediately after the shooting.

ALEXIS GREEN, RESIDENT: What I first noticed was a rather large crowd and then some heavily armed officers with helmets on. Detectives, ambulance workers.

FEYERICK: The man who you saw being wheeled out, you noticed tattoos on his arm. Did he look like an officer?

GREEN: I didn't get a chance to see if it was a suspect or an officer.

FEYERICK: One U.S. officer shot in the leg, another injured in the arm.

The NYPD detective assign to the task force shot in the abdomen. None of the injuries are believed to be life threatening.

BRATTON: Effectively, where you can see is where the round entered. The round most recovered in the vest.

FEYERICK: Mozdir was last seen two years ago in San Diego after being accused of molesting a friend's 7-year-old son. At the time, police searched his home and found his cell phone with images of child porn and bestiality. His abandoned car was found soon after in Georgia. The license plate removed and Mozdir seemingly disappeared.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FEYERICK: Now, the tip came from a woman in Florida. Somebody who appears to have been close to this suspect. We are told that after the shooting, EMTs tried to resuscitate Mozdir. He was put on a gurney. They tried CPR on him. One witness I spoke to a little while ago said he had grown his hair, he had a big Bushy beard and he had tattoos up and down his arms and legs. It does not appear any of the efforts by the EMT workers were able to resuscitate him on that gurney and he was taken away -- Don.

LEMON: Hey, Deb. You know, John Walsh is here. And we're going to talk with him as well. But I have a question for you. Great police sources. Police were aware going into this today that Charles Mozdir had been featured on "THE HUNT" and was considered armed and dangerous. How did that affect their approach today, Deb?

FEYERICK: Well, absolutely. They were on high alert. I've gone out on some of these stings with them. And they are very, very cautious. They always go in with a very clear head knowing that the suspect that they're after could be armed and could be dangerous. There were reports that in fact that Mozdir did have guns with him. So they knew that going in. But it appears that as they began walking toward the location, toward the smoke shop, that he got tipped off. He got spooked. And that's when he seemed to react.

And so, right now, the detectives are looking at the surveillance video from inside the shop from around the neighborhood to see exactly how all of this played out. Mozdir did have a gun or reach for a gun, a 0.32 caliber. And he began shooting. He began opening fire. We are told that he got off about five rounds as far-- yes, these guys are professionals. They do this all the time. They don't know what's on the other side. They were aware that this could be a very dangerous situation that they were walking into, Don.

LEMON: Absolutely. And let's talk about the tips, John. Because, you know, as we were sitting here looking at the beard and you said he gained weight on purpose, right? Do you believe that?

WALSH: They do anything to stay out there.

LEMON: I probably would not have recognized him. So tell us how these tips work. And these calls go in to. Explain it to us.

WALSH: We always guarantee that people can remain anonymous. I think everybody knows that. That cops don't answer the phones on "THE HUNT" hotline and they don't monitor the Web site. So whether you're an illegal, whether you're afraid it is your cousin that's a gang banger that is going to come and kill you, we guarantee that they can remain anonymous. Just give us the tip.

So our hotline operators got two terrific tips a week ago. One of them involved the dog. We knew he had taken the dog. Everybody knew that he had taken a dog and as was mentioned, he had an obsession with dogs and kept a log book of friends and families' dogs that he had performed unnatural acts. But he -- we knew he had a registered gun and he had bought a gun illegally. His roommate tipped the cops off. And Coronado PD did a really great job on this, preparing the marshals

for the hunt. So, you know, they change their appearance so much to try to throw people off. But it started a week ago with the trips focusing in on lower Manhattan. Greenwich village specifically and the marshal does a fantastic job of surveillance during this week and keeping it out of the public eye, not tipping of him off. But I think he knew once he was on the hunt, that he was toast.

LEMON: I have another question for you because you said he planned it. Before we let Deb go I want to ask here this.

Deb. is he suspected of doing anything else since he was here, breaking any other laws? Suspected of anything?

FEYERICK: You know, it's a good question, Don. One of the things that is now being investigated, whether he was able to stay under the radar for so long because he was using an alias. There was no record of him.

And you know, what's so fascinating, Don, is this part of the village, it is a small street. Everybody knows each other. The people who own the shops and the people that we spoke to, probably about a dozen people said they had never seen Modzir in this area before. They had never seen him in the smoke shop. They didn't know where he came from. Yes, there is one report that, in fact, he had been here for the entirety of the two years. A couple things don't make sense including how he sort of knew this woman down in Florida as well. So yes, all of that right now is under investigation, Don.

LEMON: All right. John, I want to play something for and you then we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALSH: Over those years I learned how to do one thing really well. That's how to catch these bastards and bring them back to justice. I've become a man hunter. I'm out there looking for bad guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So as we were on earlier, I told you what my friend emailed me and said, where is John Walsh been? He produces results. Why has he not been on television and you're back.

WALSH: I sort of tried to retire. I took a year off. And a lot of urging by the FBI and by the marshals saying, John, you have a great track record. Caught almost 1,300 guys, 17 off the FBI's ten most wanted. And your new boss, Jeff Sooker (ph), has been a friend of mine for years and said how would you like to saddle back up? And I said, you know, my wife is sick of having me around the house. She said, God, you can't sit still.

But I'll always be the father of a murdered child. And Sunday was the 33rd anniversary of Adam's murder. I hate these guys. Some of these cases, I wasn't successful in catching these guys. And all those years I was on America's most wanted like the guy did last week night, Fred Bishop. He's been on the FBI's ten most wanted. For years, he's been out 38 years. So I said, maybe it's time to saddle up. And the public has been fantastic.

LEMON: Does it feel good to be back? -

WALSH: It does. It really does. And to see that -- I went through that pain. I waited 27 years to finally get Adam's case opened and to get some justice. So it's a great forum and CNN is a great partner.

LEMON: I know how it is with the new boss not getting a vacation. So, it will be a while before you get another one. We're so happy to have you.

Deb, thank you very much.

When we come right back, I want to talk -- Deb, appreciate it. I want to talk to you about what you told me earlier. You believe that this was planned and you were fighting to change the laws who wants you to do get someone suspected of this. We will talk to John Walsh when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone.

CNN's "THE HUNT" with John Walsh helped track down fugitive Charles Mozdir but one man was not was hunting him down for the last two years.

So joining me is detective Angel Cedeno. He is the Coronado, California excuse me, Coronado, California, police department. And back with us also is John Walsh who is the host of "THE HUNT."

Detective, thank you so much for joining us. I understand you've spoken to the family. Is that correct?

CEDENO: Correct. A few hours ago I did speak to the family. And thanks for having me on.

LEMON: All right. And what was that conversation like? What did you talk to them about?

CEDENO: I spoke to the mother of the victim. Immediately upon talking to her, she had already watched -- been on the news and watched some stuff on the news. And she told me, she felt a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. Took a breath, took a deep breath, a sigh of relief, and was content that she can have some closure in her case, and that in her eyes, that justice was served.

LEMON: Do you think he's in the right place?

WALSH: I do. I'm not a vigilante. But again, think of this family. Not only are they destroyed by the fact that a trusted guy that they brought into their house has molest their child and they had the courage to go forward, but his roommate and this detective knows it, and we did, too, that the roommate said he had bragged and stated, not bragged, but stated that he was going to come back and kill the father.

Now, he knew where they lived. He knew the family, he knew everything about them. So you have to look over your shoulder the rest of your life when you're trying to get justice for your child. Get your child some therapy. Build your life back to what it was but still look over your shoulder every day and say, is this creep going to walk up to us in a grocery store parking lot and blow us away? I mean, this is, I think he's right where he belongs.

LEMON: Or come into your home at night. You never really know.

WALSH: No.

LEMON: Detective, you know, in the episode that we saw, Mozdir was described as an EMT who could have been camping, living off the hand. Is this why a show like "THE HUNT" is so important? He was hiding in one of the world's biggest cities.

CEDENO: Correct. We knew he was an EMT. We received information that he would word as ski patrol. And so, he was very trained in search and rescue. When he initially went missing and we located several days after he went missing, we located his vehicle in Georgia. It is kind of one of the things that we thought about, is he going to be living off the land and kind of hiding in the woods and living off the land, essentially. So the case went cold unfortunately back then. And you know, since he had those skills, we thought that could be a possibility that he could be living off the land out there.

LEMON: You told me you have fought to change the laws because you believed he had planned all this after he was accused of doing this.

WALSH: Well, I think he planned to run. I'm sure he planned the run. And the detective can verify this, he packed the car up. He had the money, he had gas cans so he wouldn't have to stop. He want to, as most fugitives know, when it is a small PD like Coronado, and a lot of bad guys know, if you go across county lines, your odds get better. If you go across the country and you a simulate into a big population, that the Coronado police are not going to have the resources to look for you in the rest of the world. And that's where "THE HUNT" came in.

LEMON: So, what are you demanding now when someone is accused of this?

WALSH: Well, you know, I worked for years to get the Adam Molshock (ph) passed. It was signed in the rose garden several years ago and that's for repeat offenders. But there are so many of these guys that plan their runs. And if we can put the mars rover on mars to send back ice crystal pictures for a cost $44 billion, I think we can keep better track of these guys when they're going to make a run and they're not going -- the marshals say that there are over 100,000 level three convicted sex offenders at large right now that have broken their probation or cut off their ankle bracelets. Now, this guy didn't have a history. He was accused of molesting a child before. I don't think Coronado PD knew that. But there has to be a way to monitor these guys and to make them come back to their trials. LEMON: They can still cut them off but that would help, at least to

some of them, right?

WALSH: It would help. I truly believe you're innocent until proven guilty. But I know one thing that the pedophiles that I've caught over the years are smart, they are cunning, they are insidious, they are very hard to rehabilitate them if ever. And I think this guy planned to run and law enforcement does not have the resources to monitor these guys and keep track of them.

LEMON: Detective, you worked this for two years. Where were you when you got the news and what did you think?

CEDENO: Today received the news. I was actually sitting at my desk at work, working on my cases when I received the phone call from the U.S. marshal that I've been working with for the last two years. Gave me a call and said that hey, I have some news. And he told me basically, Mozdir has been found. That three of our own had been hurt. And that Charles was now deceased.

I want to take this time to please say that our, my thoughts and prayers and the Coronado police department's thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the officers, the NYPD detective assign to the task force as well as the marshal that's executed the other two, the other warrant. So I wanted to take time to say that our thoughts and prayers are out with them.

So once I received the news, the calls started coming in from different media sources.

LEMON: You had to be happy though that finally, he had been caught.

CEDENO: There was a sense of closure there for the case. We have been working on this case for over two years now, myself and my counterpart over at the marshals. And there was a sense of closure that finally, he was located.

We want to thank the CNN's "THE HUNT," the show. Once our law enforcement resources had been exhausted, the public through the show was able to be our most viable resource out there and our eyes and ears out there. Like you've seen and heard, the anonymous tip that led to the events that took place today.

LEMON: It is very important. It is very important to get those tips coming in. And again, they remain anonymous.

Detective Cedeno, thank you very much. We appreciate you.

And John, when we come back, you are going to tell us what's ahead on "THE HUNT."

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back now with John Walsh, host of CNN's "THE HUNT." Next, what should we will be looking for to the next episode?

WALSH: Two cases that really drive me crazy, Christopher Ponce from my home state of Florida, from the west coast of Florida, three time convict DUI, no driver's license, police say he was driving so severely intoxicated that he hit three guys head on and killed one of them and cut his ankle bracelet off. Living at home when he shouldn't have home. Living at home and he is on the run. And David Burgert who I profiled before on America's most wanted, Montana's most wanted guy, shouted out with cops. Gun fanatic, white supremacist, really dangerous bad guy.

So you got two different guys that are out there. One of them, I think, might be getting help. Christopher Ponce, 22-year-old, should turn himself in before the show. And David Burgert, armed and extremely dangerous. Call me. Leave a tip on the Web site. Do not ever even think about doing anything yourself. These are two guys that need to be off the streets.

LEMON: Great work. Thank you

WALSH: Thanks for having me, Don.

LEMON: Good to see you here, again, talking about more people you have caught. John Walsh.

Thank you very much. The next episode of "THE HUNT" with John Walsh, make sure you watch it Sunday night 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN and send us your tips to CNN.com/thehunt.

That's it for us tonight. I'm Don Lemon. CNN International is next.